Devastated
by YoullJustHavetoDeal
Summary: Kit Madge is feeling the effects of her medicine — a successful attempt at a cure for Congenital Insensitivity to Pain and Anhidrosis — and the S.T.A.R. Labs Particle Accelerator is going online in five. The results are devastating.
1. prologue

The first thing Kit felt was how cold porcelain actually was.

Or was this heat?

Maybe it was pain?

She didn't know. All she knew was that feeling was unpleasant, _torturous_.

Sharp spasms ricocheted off the back of her throat as vomit spewed into the toilet. The convulsions weren't just actions, but now had something _deeper_ attached to them, and she didn't like it. She wanted to be back at the lab, wanted to go to her phone to call for help, but the phone was so far away, and these _feelings —_ aches, she guessed — made her refrain from moving more than she needed.

Kit had been told that being able to feel would open her eyes to a whole new world, but she wanted to curl back up into her previous status. She wanted to go back to CIPA Kit.

Tremors shook the building, but Kit was too lost in her tears and foreign sensations that she never noticed. She never noticed when an invisible force shattered her bathroom window above her or when the rain pelted down on her torso and into her toilet.

She didn't notice when the thunder rolled, seeming to clash against the sky itself.

She only noticed when light flooded the room around her, and she felt heat for the very first time.


	2. 1

_**Hey everyone, I know, I know. I haven't updated my other stories in about**_

 _ **five years, but I started watching the Flash, and I just got this perfect idea**_

 _ **and I had to write it. I hope you all enjoy it (:**_

I do not own the Flash.

* * *

"Kit, what is it?"

The brunette blinked and looked up from her perch towards the slightly older woman. "Sorry, uh, his breathing is . . . different," she muttered. Her blue eyes slid back to the man on the hospital bed.

His name was Barry Allen, and he'd been at S.T.A.R. Labs for about nine months now, since a little bit after the Particle Accelerator ruptured. Dr. Wells had asked Mr. Allen's relatives to allow him to be moved here, similar to how Kit had been brought in for testing after the mishap. She had been affected in a way that was much like Mr. Allen's situation; both had been struck by lightning from the storm caused by the accelerator's rupture, but each had different reactions.

Mr. Allen went into a coma.

Kit, who had previously been plagued with the inability to feel, now could feel everything. She could even _hear_ better. Dr. Wells had explained that it was because a form of synesthesia had been stimulated by her reaction. It was more like she was _feeling_ sound rather than hearing it. Unfortunately, Kit's condition had caused her ears to suddenly become hypersensitive, and when one ear didn't adapt as well, she was left half-deaf.

Still, sense-wise, Kit was much better off than others. She could feel fluctuations in the air — the reason she'd been able to catch Mr. Allen's change in breathing, vibrations from footsteps, different voices apart by the way their vibrations felt, remaining residue after a drink is spilt, and many other things. So her situation was not all bad, but that didn't mean it was entirely good. Pain was amplified, cold and heat affected her much more, and suddenness put the young woman on edge as she was able to sense it on such a higher level. If Kit ever had the chance, she knew she'd give her super-human sense of touch up for CIPA any day.

"Kit," Cailin called her name once more.

Kit jumped, torn from her thoughts, and blinked up at Caitlin.

"What do you mean by 'different'?" Caitlin asked.

The scientist took two steps closer to Kit, and right as she did so, the sound of a gasp filled the room. Kit jumped off the stool she was sitting on, her posture rigid and goosebumps covering her pale arms. There was a shift in the air as Mr. Allen bolted up, and it seemed to smack her like a gust of wind.

"He's up!" she heard Caitlin cry.

Kit couldn't help but flinch slightly as she attempted to adjust to the chaos, Mr. Allen flailing to get out of the equipment, Cisco calling for Dr. Wells, and Caitlin checking Mr. Allen's vitals. Before the man could do any more damage, Kit was walking swiftly to the side opposite of Caitlin in order to help him remove the equipment.

"Look at me, look at me," Caitlin kept muttering.

Kit tried to ignore the pleasant heat of being closer to people as she started to take out the IV. She needed to be alert and paying attention to what she was doing.

Cisco came up beside Kit and grabbed hold of Mr. Allen, who was still moving around. Kit assumed he was trying to get used to rotary functions once again. "Hey, hey, hey," Cisco attempted to comfort the disoriented patient, "Relax. Everything's okay, man, you're at S.T.A.R. Labs."

Kit finished fiddling with the IV and skittered back when Mr. Allen leaned towards her and Cisco's side. "S.T.A.R. Labs?" he questioned, "Who are you?"

Cisco smiled lightly, helping Mr. Allen stand and take a few steps. "I'm Cisco Ramon, she's Kit Madge," he gestured to Kit and then Caitlin, "and she's Caitlin — Dr. Snow."

Caitlin looked at Barry, holding up a container. "I need you to urinate in this," she ordered.

Cisco reached across Mr. Allen and grabbed the little cup. "Not this second!" he hissed.

"What? How— What is going on?" Mr. Allen asked, his voice slightly raised. He broke away from Cisco and Caitlin's grasp and stalked toward the other side of the room. He turned around to look at the three.

Cisco took the chance to explain. "You were struck by lightning, dude!"

Mr. Allen turned back around and caught sight of his abdomen on the screen. "Lightning . . . gave me abs?"

Kit grinned at his conclusion. Then Caitlin answered, "Your muscles should be atrophied, but instead they're in a chronic cellular state of regeneration."

"Yeah, and you healed your Lichtenberg figure," Kit added. Her right hand subconsciously traveled to the dip between her neck and her shoulder, where her own figure began.

Cisco nodded vigorously, grabbing onto Mr. Allen's arms and telling him to sit down. Kit could see the confusion re-erupt in Mr. Allen's green eyes and she thought of jumping in to tell Cisco to calm down. She took a couple steps forward until she was with the group, but she didn't get a chance to say anything when Cisco said, "You were in a coma."

Mr. Allen's jaw dropped slightly. "For how long?"

Kit was so taken with the situation at hand that she hadn't even heard Wells' wheelchair, and she was surprised when his voice filled the room. "Nine months," he answered, "Welcome back, Mr. Allen. We have a lot to discuss."

Soon enough, Mr. Allen and Wells were out of the room and walking around S.T.A.R. Labs, and Cisco, Caitlin, and Kit were left to talk amongst each other. The first thing said was Cisco inquiring about Kit's twenty-first birthday.

"It's next month, yeah," Kit answered after she'd returned to her usual seat on the stool between Cisco and Caitlin's normal spots.

"We should all go out," Cisco suggested, "Get you your first drink."

Kit shifted slightly, feeling a bit uncomfortable at the thought of being in public. Sometimes it was a little overwhelming. "Maybe," she answered.

Caitlin looked up from her work to glance at Kit, who was looking down, her shoulder length brown hair hanging around her face. Then Caitlin looked at Cisco. "You know, Cisco, not everyone wants to get drunk on their twenty-first birthday. Just because you can, doesn't mean you need to."

Cisco scoffed. "I bet you went out on your twenty-first."

Caitlin rolled her eyes, turning back to her work. "Actually," she replied, "I didn't, and I think I turned out just fine."

Kit sighed, raising her eyes from the solid floor. "Guys, it's not that. I just— Sometimes, being out in crowded places is overwhelming. It's too loud and I'm touching too many people, and . . ."

"Oh," Cisco said, going back to whatever he was doing at the computer. Caitlin looked over towards Kit with sympathy. Both women had lost something the night the Particle Accelerator exploded, Caitlin her fiance, and Kit her peace and eventually, her hearing in her right ear. Now, in loud places, it felt like every sound zeroed in on one ear; it always gave her a headache if she couldn't find a good distraction.

Kit had just found her way back to her Calculus text when Mr. Allen and Dr. Wells returned. They were talking about Mr. Allen's transition from the hospital to S.T.A.R. Labs, and Kit couldn't make herself pay much attention. It wasn't as if she wasn't there to see it all play out.

But then, Mr. Allen said, "I have to go."

"You can't!" Caitlin cried.

Kit's head shot up, and she set the heavy hardback aside. "Yeah, we still have tests," she said. She straightened her position, ready to stand if needed be.

"Caitlin and Kit are right, Mr. Allen. You're still going through changes," Dr. Wells said, "There are things that we don't know."

Mr. Allen shrugged, walking backwards towards the doorway. "Really, I feel fine," he said, "Thank you for saving my life." Then he turned, his tall frame disappearing behind the corner.

Kit sighed a little, and Caitlin let out a "Really?" The man just woke up from a coma, and he was already back out by himself. It was dangerous, and Kit found herself worried for the semi-stranger.


End file.
